Penn State Football: Barkley Named To AP All-American Third Team

Penn State star running back Saquon Barkley added another honor to his near endless award list as the Nittany Lions earned a spot on the Associated Press All-America third team.

Prior to Monday's news, Barkley had been named to the Sporting News All-America second team. He is the first Penn State running back to garner All-America accolades since Larry Johnson captured first team laurels in 2002. He is also the first offensive player to take home All-America honors since Allen Robinson (first team) and John Urschel (third team) in 2013.

Earlier this month Barkley was named the 2016 Graham-George Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and the 2016 Ameche-Dayne Big Ten Running Back of the Year and was also a All-Big Ten first team by the coaches and media.

The sophomore was selected as the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press and was a unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selection. Additionally, Barkley is a finalist for the Chicago Tribune Silver Football, which is given annually to the Big Ten’s Most Valuable Player. The winner will be announced this week.

Heading into the Rose Bowl, Barkley now ranks 32nd in FBS in all-purpose yards (128.15) and paces the Big Ten and ranks ninth in FBS in total touchdowns with 19. Additionally Barkley is third in the conference and 33rd nationally with 100.2 rushing yards per game.

In the Big Ten Championship game, Barkley broke the Penn State sophomore rushing yards record and is 10th on the single-season chart with 1,302 markers and ranks No. 6 on Penn State's single season all-purpose yards list with 1,666. He owns the sophomore scoring record with 114 points, passing Kevin Kelly's previous mark of 96 points (2006).

Just the eighth player in program history to have multiple 1,000-yard seasons, Barkley had a streak of 14 consecutive games with at least one rush of 20 yards snapped at Rutgers (11/19), a streak that was the second-longest in college football in the last 20 years (19 - LaMichael James, Oregon (2008-10). He has 39 rushes of 10 or more yards in 2016 and 73 in his career.

Barkley sits 14th on Penn State’s career rushing yards list (2,378) and 14th in career rushing scores (23). Earlier this season, he became the first Penn State player since Larry Johnson in 2002 (289 yards vs. Michigan State and 327 yards at Indiana) to post back-to-back game with 200-plus all-purpose yards, gaining 211 vs. Iowa (11/5) and 277 at Purdue (10/29).

With a Big Ten title on the shelf and a Rose Bowl appearance just a few weeks away, Penn State football took a moment on Sunday night to remember an unforgettable season. Even though the year isn't done just yet, James Franklin and his staff announced their yearly awards at the team banquet as Penn State heads into finals week.